The report card, which has been in the making for more than a year, is meant to provide the public with a way of understanding a complex set of data that helps scientists better understand the health and quality of Long Island Sound waters, according to Jamie Vaudrey, of the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Connecticut and one of the collaborators on the project.

The report, published Thursday, is “based on a huge amount of high quality data,” Vaudrey said, which has been collected by scientists in state agencies from Connecticut and New York over the last year. Scientists looked at dissolved oxygen levels, water clarity, the presence of important microalgae, and nitrogen and phosphorus levels.

While some regions got better grades than others, all of the data points to one central problem, Vaudrey said.

“We are over-fertilizing the Sound and that’s where the problems are coming from,” she said.

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U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, speaks at a press conference announcing the publication of the Report Card for the Long Island Sound. (Anna Bisaro - New Haven Register)

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, speaks at a press conference announcing the publication of the Report Card for the Long Island Sound. (Anna Bisaro - New Haven Register)

Photo: Journal Register Co.

Greater New Haven Long Island Sound report card score is B-plus

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The over-fertilizing refers to the high levels of nitrogen discharge into the Sound, which historically has led to harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, and fish kills. High nitrogen levels are usually blamed on polluted stormwater runoff from urban areas and water treatment plant discharge.

The lowest-performing region, based on the report, was the Western Narrows, down by New York City, which received an F grade due to high nitrogen levels and low water clarity.

“I love New York… but New York is the culprit for a lot of the pollution,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who attended the release of the report card at Lighthouse Point Park Thursday morning. “The combination of an A grade and an F works out to a combination that I would find unacceptable.”

The eastern region of the Sound, including where the Connecticut River empties into the Sound, and New London, received an A-minus grade in the report. The report notes this region of the Sound estuary is less densely populated than other regions.

Blumenthal said the report card will help him and other lawmakers in Washington better articulate why funding is needed to help restore and clean up the Sound and to where that money will be directed.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, touted the work of the U.S. House of Representatives in securing a $10 million portion of the House appropriations bill earlier this year. She said the Senate version of the bill only has about $5.9 million set aside to help reduce pollution in the Sound, and she thanked Blumenthal and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, also D-Conn., for working to increase funding.

“We are going to fight like you-know-what to keep that $10 million level,” she said.

That money, if it were appropriated, would be used towards reducing nitrogen discharges into the Sound, something the state of Connecticut has already been able to do significantly from an industrial level, according to Rob Hust, of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Hust said nitrogen outputs from wastewater treatment plants has decreased by 65 percent and the state plans to reduce discharge levels another 3 percent in coming years.

“As we reduce waste water load, it’s not the major source of nitrogen in Long Island Sound from Connecticut,” Hust said, adding that the focus now needs to be on non-point source pollution, including polluted stormwater runoff.

Hust said the best way to reduce pollutants is to limit pesticide and fertilizer use as well as adding green infrastructure, such as rain gardens, to urban areas.